


The Thrilling Treat of Trickery

by veinsofblue



Series: Spooky Thief Fics [4]
Category: Thief (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-11-28 21:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20973698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veinsofblue/pseuds/veinsofblue
Summary: “C’mon Garrett! This will be thelasthouse—I swear!”The two glared at each other for a solid minute before the older relented, giving a short sigh and muttered, “That’s what you said theothertimes”.Erin grinned and tugged Garrett towards her destination.





	The Thrilling Treat of Trickery

**Author's Note:**

> Due to last minute planning and me almost giving up entirely on titles, here's the promised fic!

“C’mon Garrett! This will be the _ last _ house—I swear!” 

The two glared at each other for a solid minute before the older relented, giving a short sigh and muttered, “That’s what you said the _ other _ times.”

Erin grinned and tugged Garrett towards her destination. 

He groaned internally and let himself be led away, only looking up after Erin pushed open the gate which produced a rusty creak. He cringed from the noise and finally noticed the place was no mere house but, a two-story Victorian style mansion as they neared the front porch. It towered above them and the lights illuminating the path flickered weakly, casting wild shadows as they approached. 

The walk up to the front door was less than 10 feet away, but it seemed far longer due to the surrounding darkness. Looking around, the yard was in absolute shambles; the hedges were overgrown and misshapen, weeds littered everywhere and some tree roots were dead and exposed, lying twisted above ground. 

He turned towards Erin, about to tell her to pick another place instead, but it was already too late when he felt the heavy thud of the door-knocker fall and vibrate against the front door. For a few heartbeats, there was just a heavy silence and Garrett felt his chest tighten—slowly exhaling when he realized he had unconsciously held his breath for a little too long.

“Hmm, maybe they didn’t hear that? Let me try again.”

He reached out to stop Erin when suddenly the door opened with an ominous creak and his hand fell away, startled by the noise.

“Trick or treat!” Erin exclaimed right as the door swung fully open. 

Dim light bled out onto the porch and a dark silhouette loomed in the doorway before a deep chuckle caused chills to creep across Garrett’s skin. He watched as a thin, but tall man emerged and stood before them with an ashen complexion and a gaunt look in their eyes. 

He slowly took a step back to meld into the shadows, but as he did so, those eyes met his and he froze—they were pitch black and it felt like he was being drawn in—unable to take a step further back. 

Time seemed to slow to a crawl with each second longer than the next and the beat of his heart steadily rising until all that filled his ears was the rush of blood and rhythmic thumping. 

“Um, trick or treat?” Erin spoke up, breaking the silence and Garrett's inner turmoil as he jerked back, tearing his eyes away when the other man finally blinked. 

Attention shifted, Garrett let out a shaky breath as the other’s eyes swept over to Erin and smiled, yet it didn’t seem to reach their eyes. 

“Ah, my apologies dear. I forgot to bring the treats out. Why don’t you two come in out of the cold while I go and fetch them?”

Before Garrett could decline, Erin looked at him with mischief in her eyes and replied, “Yeah sure, c’mon Garrett.” 

He watched as she walked inside like it was her own house with absolutely no shame and he felt the urge to run away rise, but he couldn't just leave her alone. As he neared the open door, every step closer felt like there were shackles around his ankles, weighing him down and when he finally reached the threshold, he paused.

_ Why did Erin have to pick this house? _

He took a deep breath and stepped inside, the door slamming shut behind him with a heavy thud.

"Could you have taken any longer?" Erin huffed. "Anyways, at least the inside isn’t a dump.”

Giving a quick look around, Garrett agreed. 

Although the outside was decrepit, the inside was immaculate—nothing seemed to be out of place and there didn’t even seem to be a speck of dust anywhere. Yet oddly enough, the interior was very sparse with only the bare fundamental elements that made up a home, especially one that was lived in. 

The place was also definitely fancy enough to require a handful of servants to actually upkeep, but nobody else appeared to be about.

"I'm going to look around a little so stay here." Erin said excitedly. 

Garrett's eyes widened in alarm and he turned back towards her, but she had already run off—the ends of her cloak disappeared from view—and his warning to not go messing about died on his lips. 

_ Why did I agree to go out? _

Now he was stuck here waiting—in a seemingly empty and creepy mansion—for either Erin or the stranger to get back and frankly, he didn’t want to be alone with the latter. Where he was currently standing was just the hallway entrance with the dining room to the left and a closed door to the right with a dimly lit hallway leading further into the house. Erin of course had chosen the hallway and ran right into its depths with no self-preservation or worries. 

Garrett did have worries though—enough for them both—so he remained where he was, uncomfortable and on alert. Since he had come in after the other two, he didn’t know exactly where the other man had gone, but it hadn’t been that long since he’d entered; all he could do was wait.

Yet with each minute that passed, he grew bored and his eyes wandered, glancing back and forth from the covered frames that adorned the nearby walls. Curious and since it seemed harmless enough, he went closer, lifting the sheets up on each to examine them. They turned out to be portraits, skillfully painted but like the owner of the house, they gave off an eerie feeling and their eyes seemed to pierce straight through Garrett’s soul when he met their gaze.

He shuddered and dropped the veil on the current painting, stepping back as the sheet once again covered the picture. He was about to turn around when he caught sight of another frame in the corner of his eye. So far, all of the ones he had uncovered were portraits so it was likely to be the same, but like an itch, it was hard to ignore until you scratched it. 

Reaching out, Garrett took hold of the fabric and lifted it, expecting to see another painted face staring back at him. What he didn’t expect was his own face! Though more accurately correct would be his reflection grimly looking back, a spark of surprise before it melted into a frown. He hadn’t planned to go out tonight, but Erin had whined about it being Halloween and had begged him to go trick or treating with her so he had relented in the end, mostly to stop any further annoyance.

Just as he was about to release the cover—he didn’t need to see those dark circles under his eyes to feel just how tired he was—a prickling sensation rose on the back of his neck. Reflexively, he looked at the ground from his peripheral vision to see if any shadows moved or grew closer. Seeing nothing, he realized he could glance into the mirror in front of him when a weight fell upon his shoulder. He flinched, letting go of the sheet—saw it flutter and fall, taking with it his assailant’s identity—and felt himself grow tense again as he swung around rather violently, almost falling forward from the momentum. A tight grasp clamped down upon his shoulder again, though this time to steady him.

He heard a chuckle and looked up. It was the stranger from earlier.

"I must apologize again Mister Garrett. I seem to have startled you once more."

Thankfully, the other let go before Garrett even had time to think, but he was caught off guard even more by the next sentence spoken. 

"Hmm, where has the little missus gone?" 

If he wasn't already standing still as a statue, he probably would've jerked to a stop, though his heart skipped a beat. He watched as the other stepped back—farther would have been better—and looked around the hallway they were now situated in. Taking advantage of that, Garrett also quickly moved away and discretely looked around, hoping that Erin would pop out and save him from this conversation, but Garrett never had the pleasure of good luck being on his side.

He couldn’t say she had already left, because then he would have done the same! The problem clearly was, she was off snooping somewhere in this mansion and if she was caught, this man no matter how “nice” they were, would not be pleased. So he said the least incriminating thing he could get away with on the spot. 

"She went to look for a toilet." 

A pause lingered after his reply and then when he felt it starting to grow stagnant, a laugh burst out of the unnamed man. 

In the silence, it was deafening and Garrett could swear the frames on the walls shook a little as the sound echoed—it gave Garrett goosebumps. The lights also flickered and the shadows all around seemed to grow in size along with the volume. He watched warily as the other composed themself and turned their gaze upon him again.

"Well, let's hope she doesn't get lost then. This house has a lot of rooms and I'm still in the process of renovating." 

Instead of renovating, it looked more like the other never even finished unpacking, but Garrett kept that to himself as he avoided looking directly into the other’s eyes.

“I see you have entertained yourself with my family’s portraits.”

As the pale man said that, they hurriedly fixed the sheet on the mirror which Garrett now noticed wasn’t completely covered as a bottom corner was left exposed. Before the sheet settled, Garrett caught sight of himself slightly in the mirror, but that wasn’t what made chills run down his spine as the reflective surface was fully hidden away. The other looked at him over their shoulder and managed to catch his gaze again, eyes narrowed and their aura darkened as he stood there with what he likened to what being prey felt like—helpless.

A smile sprang up on the other’s face as the air lightened after what felt like an eternity and Garrett swallowed, the lump of unease slid horribly down his throat and he tried not to squirm as the motion was definitely noticed.

Without breaking eye contact, the other strode towards him, only stopping once they were much too close for Garrett’s preference; the other’s height easily let them tower over him and he absolutely loathed it.

"Let's relocate to the parlor shall we?"

Garrett _ really _ did not want to go anywhere with this stranger and just wanted them to leave him alone, but he needed to stall somehow before Erin returned. 

"I can wait here."

"Nonsense, there aren’t even any chairs here. Come and I'll make some tea for you while we're waiting."

“I’m fine.” Garrett said through clenched teeth.

“Shall we?” The other said as if Garrett hadn’t spoken at all.

Feeling his feet move forward against his will, he cursed Erin—this was all her fault after all—in his head.

He was _ done _. 

He didn’t want to be here, standing around cold and restless being chatted at by a creepy stranger who didn’t understand the concept of personal space. He wouldn’t even be out tonight if it hadn’t been for Erin! Just as he was about to call out for her—pretense be damned—the sound of a clock bell rang from somewhere within the building, filling the air with the deep reverberation as he turned to pinpoint where it emanated from. Suddenly Garrett felt a presence looming behind him and regret befell him for getting slightly distracted.

As each corresponding chime answered to the hour, it masked the thump of Garrett being slammed sideways into the wall; covered up the small groan he let out at the bump that he could already feel forming on his head; and the drag of his feet across the creaky wooden floors.

The dizziness lessened and Garrett’s eyes snapped open with shock when he realized they’d been closed. He struggled as he saw that he’d been moved to a completely different room with a nice crackling fireplace and comfortable looking seating. 

_ This was the goddamn parlor wasn’t it? _

He tried once more and opened his mouth to yell—for Erin or _ at _, he couldn’t decide—when a grip shut his mouth, forcing it to close so fast the 'clack' of his teeth could be heard and in the process had bitten his tongue; a metallic tang spread throughout his mouth. 

He struggled as the hold tightened and no matter how hard he tried, there was no give—the other’s strength was unnatural.

He shuddered as the other spoke into his ear. “Just relax. It will be over soon.”

Garrett felt his head being tipped to the side and goosebumps rose at the cool breath upon his neck. He stiffened and braced himself for what was about to happen. 

"Hey blood-sucker!" 

At the interruption, Garrett felt the hold on him finally grow slack and with that opening, he decided to slam his head backwards into the other's face. It wasn't the best of plans especially since he already had a bump _ and _ a headache now, but it had worked well enough and the unexpected move had caused them to let go entirely. 

With that, Garrett quickly sprang away and slipped the hidden dagger from his boot knowing he wasn't going to get far. Once the weapon was secured in hand, he swung around just in time to get splattered with blood and grunted, almost falling against the sudden dead weight. 

“The toilet—_really _?” Erin scoffed.

“You didn’t give me much choice—” Garrett grumbled as he shoved the corpse away, watched as the blood pooled around the body from the puncture through its abdomen. "—and _ really _?" He grimaced as he looked down at the blood on his clothing, albeit black so the substance couldn’t be seen, but it could definitely be smelled and not to mention felt. 

Erin walked over to the mess and unfortunately made it messier; he looked away as she decapitated the body. He scowled at her as the spray of blood covered the floor right before him—she did that on purpose—and though it wasn’t like it mattered anymore, he didn’t _ want _ to be covered in more.

"Yes, because I leave for a few minutes to investigate and you almost became a blood-bag." Erin tutted, hands on her hips. "You're lucky they were a lone wolf, or should I say, lone _ bat _?" She cackled.

Garrett rolled his eyes which didn't help his headache at all. "Well whose fault is that?"

"Heh. Anyways, I didn't expect there to be a blood-sucker living here though. I guess I’ve been slacking. Instead of a treat, I guess we got tricked instead huh?"

He sighed. “I’m going home.” 

"Aww, but I didn't even get any candy here!"

Garrett glared at Erin. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t just lick your hand clean.”

Erin’s eyes flashed with mirth and with a wide grin, she bared her teeth, showing off her pearly whites along with two sharp fangs extended—unsheathed.

**Author's Note:**

> why is this one also about vampires? bcuz <strike>i love vampire AUs gdi</strike> it was originally started for the same prompt and i couldnt bare to scrap it. honestly, this fic was the byproduct of tiredness and varying degrees of me being a gremlin. happy early halloween!!


End file.
